Well, where to start. My name is Grant and I am 30 years old. I live in Nashville, TN with my beautiful wife Cara and our 10 month old daughter Callan. I am a business owner, financial advisor, a Christian, a huge fan of the Memphis Tigers, Dallas Cowboys, and Boston Red Sox, and pretty much your run of the mill “guy’s guy.”
Oh wait, did I mention that I am also a practicing vegan and an aspiring athlete as well? There’s the kicker, and the reason for this blog.
My experience with veganism (I still dislike that word) began on June 1st, 2011. We had just finished spending the Memorial day weekend with our family, gorging ourselves on the holiday staples of burgers, fries, cheese, chips, dips, desserts, and whatever else we could get our hands on. Growing up and living in the South, eating truly is a way of life, no matter how cliche it sounds.
Eating was never really a problem for me though. I was involved in every sport imaginable when I was in high school and even spent a short stint in the military after high school. I could eat whatever I wanted and it didn’t matter because I was always extremely fit.
That all changed when I went to college however. My fitness routine was replaced with partying, beer drinking, and fast food. I gained weight, and I gained it fast. By then end of my sophomore year I was at 235 lbs, and I am 5’10″. The odd thing was that I was still fairly active, but my lifestyle had changed and I paid for it. This is what I looked like around that time. Sick!
After college I lost all the weight by working out non-stop and living on chicken and vegetables. I never really felt healthy though, and my weight fluctuated all the time. I kept a semi-physical lifestyle, ate fairly healthily throughout the week, and gorged myself on whatever I wanted on the weekend. When my wife had our baby, I guess I thought I was “eating for 2″ as well, and pretty soon most of the weight was back on. In addition, my doctor told me that I was pretty healthy, but that I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I was becoming the stereotype.
After memorial day in 2011, I decided it was time for a drastic change. For me, its all or nothing, so I began to research my options and soon ran across a wealth of information about vegetarianism, veganism, juicing, and holistic health. That is when my journey began; my journey towards being the healthiest person I can be.
That looks very different for me some days in comparison to others and I am constantly changing what I eat, how I eat, how I workout, and how I live. What I do know is that I gained a wealth of knowledge over the past 2 years months, have lost 35 lbs, and am looking forward to what I am going to learn and adopt in the future.
I truly believe that eating a plant-based diet is the healthiest way to live. Believe me, I get as many negative responses and feedback as any “vegan” out there, probably because people don’t think I would ever be “that type of person.” I will no doubt get hazed by my old college buddies but I am finally to the point in my life where I’m not concerned with what others think about me.
Every day I am becoming more and more “that type of person” and if living like that makes me healthier, happier, and more productive, that is all I can ask for.
Sincerely,
Grant Ellis
Ephesians 6:12
